A number of devices in the game, toy or amusement category have heretofore been provided. Prior known game devices have used paddles to strike a ball to project the ball through the air such as with the game of ping pong and some have used a ball attached to a flexible line that is hit by a paddle. Some attempts have been made to provide game devices that are designed to some extent to simulate the game of basketball, but for the most part these have been of the ground or table supported variety with the ball being launched from a stationary surface toward the basket. Prior known attempts to launch the ball from a moving surface such as a paddle have not afforded launching from a plurality of fixed points and have not been constructed to afford any degree of flexibility for different skills of different players.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple and relatively inexpensive game device that is hand-held providing a movable playing surface from which a ball is launched and simulating the game of basketball.
Another object of this invention is to provide a novel hand-held basketball game device which can be used for amusement to develop hand-eye coordination in a player, can be used to develop skills with practice and affords a high degree of competition between two or more players.
A further object of this invention is to provide a novel, miniature hand-held basketball game device that has a high degree of flexibility in the manner of play and scorekeeping.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a game device having several relatively few and simple knockdown parts that can be placed in a relatively flat package and is suitable for relatively easy assembly and disassembly as well as having adjustability of the distance between the basket and playing surface from which the ball is launched, whereby the device can be adjusted for players of differing ages and skills.
Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a novel game device of the basketball variety characterized by having a paddle-like member that is gripped in the hand of a player, a basket positioned on a post above a playing surface, and a ball that is launched from one of a plurality of selected points on a moving playing surface toward the basket by a wrist action or like hand movement of the player.